GALLERY: Musikmesse 2012

"Radial Engineering unveiled its new 12AX7-powered Firefly DI for bass and acoustic guitar at Musikmesse. It has dual inputs with independent trim levels, a mute switch, load-cut and level knobs, as well as tuner, footswitch, and effects loop jacks. radialeng.com"

Chris Amott (Arch Enemy) with his new signature Caparison guitar just before filming a demo video with the PG Musikmesse crew.

"Steavens Custom Amplification out of Leverkusen, Germany, brought two new heads to Musikmesse. Both the Brian 35 (top) and the Thunderstruck II can run either EL34 or 6L6 tubes. The Brian's two channels are geared toward blues and rock players, while the Thunderstruck's four channel run the gamut from ÷ber-clean to all-out metal. steavens.com "

"Rotosound debuted its new take on a late-'60s ToneBender similar to the one Jimmy Page played in the '69 French TV performance shown on ""The Led Zeppelin"" DVD. It'll be available in July. "

"H fner's New Committee features an extra-wide body built from the original molds of the Committee, which was built from approximately 1954 to 1967. The new version features mini humbuckers, an ebony bridge and fretboard, and a neck that joins at the 16th fret instead of at the 14th, like the early version. hofner.com"

"Laney introduced the new Iommi signature head at Musikmesse. The Black Sabbath guitarist's new amp of choice features lead and rhythm channels, each with its own set of boost, drive, 3-band EQ, enhance, and presence controls."

"Palmer Amplification brought its new Fab 5 combo to Musikmesse, and it features a single 6V6 driving a 10"" speaker. The gloriously nasty and retro tones are controlled by simple volume, tone, and boost knobsяand the latter function is footswitchable."

"Frank Hartung Guitars brought its new 25.8""-scale Caligo series to Musikmesse. It features a red alder body with a choice of woods and finishes on the upper horn, splittable Caligo humbuckers, a custom ebony bridge, and Schaller locking tuners. hartung-guitars.com"

"The 25 1/2""-scale Deimel Doublestar comes in bolt-on or set-neck models and blends other LP-Jr. and T-style elements, such as a P-90 bridge pickup, T-style neck pickup, and a Callaham bridge with Glendale saddles."

"Musikmesse brought the debut of Martin's new 00-DB Jeff Tweedy 14-fret deep body, which is built entirely of Forest Stewardship Council-certified mahogany, with a fretboard and bridge made of a pressurized composite of paper, resin, and pigment. martinguitar.com"

"Dr. No Effects made its trade-show debut at Musikmesse. The line is handmade in the Netherlands and features eight different flavors of overdrive, fuzz, and distortion. drno-effects.com"

"Gibson Custom Memphis brought the new 1959 ES-330 to Musikmesse. It's a faithful replica of the vintage classic, down to the underwound, scatterwound P-90s, the mellow sunburst finish, and the perfect patina."

"DR Strings debuted the electric and bass versions of its Dragon Skin strings at Musikmesse. The company touts the new coating as the third generation in the industry, and they say it has a brighter, louder sound than past versions."

"Carlsbro Amps brought the 50 Top Evolution head an 4x12 cab to Musikmesse. Based on its models from nearl 50 years ago, it features an EL34 power section, two channels with a footswitchable boost, a shared 3-band EQ, and dual master volumes. The closed-back cab is loaded with Celestion 75-watt speakers."

"When you're looking for crazy-cool sculpted guitars, ESP never disappoints at Musikmesse. This custom shop Fantasia features a winged motif, gold EMGs, and an original Floyd Rose tremolo."

"Bogner announced its first foray into stompboxes at Musikmesse. The three initial offerings aim to give any amp the core characteristics of the company's most famous models. The ├berschall serves up mondo heaviness, while the two Ecstasy models serve up hotter (red model) and crunchier/bluesier (blue) tones, respectively."

"Denmark's Kehlet Guitars were among the most aurally and visually impressive acoustics at Musikmesse. The Great 6 Coco Bolo Prestige features a solid Sitka spruce top, coco bola back and sides, Brazilian mahogany neck, ebony fretboard and bridge, a slotted headstock with a Japanese mother-of-pearl overlay, and incredible inlay work. kehletguitars.com"

"Marel Guitars brought its Bumblebee solidbody to Musikmesse. It features a 24.562"" scale, a 1-piece swamp ash body with a myrtle wood top, a purpleheart neck with a snakewood fretboard, and Haussel 59 humbuckers."

"Italia Guitars' new Modena Sitar is among the most psychedelically cool electrics at Musikmesse. It has two lipstick-tube pickups and a Gotoh buzz bridge for the 6-string portion, while the 13 sympathetic strings have a single lipstick tube. i-musicnetwork.com"

"Roger Mayer announced its new Metalloid and TC series at Musikmesse. The latter puts all his classic designs--including the revered Octavia--into smaller, more convenient housings. "

"Ruppert Musical Instruments' new Acouswitch DI pedal features extensive tone-shaping capabilities for ""unplugged"" players of all sorts. Like its cousin the Basswitch, its knobs are easy to adjust on the fly, but are protected from accidental setting changes by the raised edge below them. "

"Claudio Pagelli brought this 24 3/4""-scale custom acoustic inspired by a 1906 Gibson to Musikmesse. It features an arched spruce top and figured maple back and sides that are of the same vintageяand from the same supplierяas the wood used in the Gibson that inspired it. pagelli.com"

"AT Picksяwhich feature textured surfaces for creating out-of-this-world soundsяintroduced its new Black Widow picks and earrings, which feature inlaid cubic zirconia. The model at top left is the Black Widow limited edition. atpicks.de"

"Nick Page's Gott (""God"") bass has a swamp-ash body topped with paisley fabric, an ETS bridge, and super-cool pickup covers that are flush with the pole pieces. nickpageguitars.com"

"Fernandes brought its new Vulcan Elite JP to Musikmesse. A spin-off of the Vertigo, it features a mahogany body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard, EMG 81 bridge pickup, Sustainer, and a Floyd Rose-licensed Gotoh bridge."

"AMT debuted its 10.8 pound, JFET-driven Stonehead 50-4 head at Musikmesse. It features 50 watts, four channels, and a bypassable series-parallel effects loop."

"Diezel's new D Moll head has three channels (two of which share an EQ), runs on KT77s, and is MIDI switchable. diezelamplification.com"

"Rainger FX of London wasn't officially exhibiting at Musikmesse, but we caught up with founder David Rainger hanging with fellow freakazoid Dave Koltai at the Pigtronix booth, and we were pretty blown away by both the tones and the visual vibe of his Dr. Freakenstein Fuzz and Son of Freakenstein pedals. raingerfx.com"

"Egnater unveiled the Detroit 5 head at Musikmesse. It's switchable between 5, 2 1/2, and 1/2 watts, and features overdrive and clean channels. The overdrive channel features a unique Torque knob that increases presence and density past noon, but acts as a mid boost below 12 o'clock. Other features include a simulated stereo headphone out and an XLR out."

"EBS debuted its new Session 30 bass practice amp at Musikmesse. It pumps 30 watts through an 8"" speaker and features gain, bass, treble, and volume knobs, as well as DI and headphone outputs. ebssweden.com"

"They may be banned in the US, but not in Europe. Tokai brought a whole wall of stunning LP-style guitars to Musikmesse 2012."

"Russia-based AMT unveiled its new Vt2, which aims to capture the ""hollow, roaring overdrive"" of the lead channel on early VHT amps, at Musikmesse."

"Berlin-based Deimel Guitars made its first-ever trade-show appearance at Musikmesse 2012. Frank Deimel has built custom guitars for Lee Ranaldo, among others, and his new Firestar model features an American red alder body, Curtis Novak and Deimel pickups, a Duesenberg tremolo, and a Mastery M1 bridge."

"Nick Page Guitars brought the Singer-Songwriter model to Musikmesse. It has a maple-capped mahogany body, a Maple neck with a slotted headstock, a Charlie Christian-style pickup, and an aluminum pickguard that has a chamber behind it."

"Switzerland-based Soultool Customized Guitars and Good Tone pickups shared a both at Musikmesse, where they showed off the SwitchBitch--an alder-bodied, maple-necked ax that you can easily pop pickups in and out of. soultool.com/guitar-workbench.com "

Taylor's new spring limited series puts a koa back and sides on all 300 series guitars. taylorguitars.com

"Blackstar unveiled its new TVP digital amp series at Musikmesse. It comes in 60-watt 1x12, stereo 60-watt 2x12, and 60- and 100-watt head versions that feature very convincing tube sounds, built-in effects, and a USB port for tweaking and saving presets via your computer."

"Several shops brought drool-inducing vintage collections to Musikmesse. Part of Guitar Point's trove includes these '60s Strats, '50s Les Pauls (the late Ronnie Montrose's '58 sunburst is third from right), and a '55 Gretsch Round Up. guitarpoint.de "

"ESP brought two new Kirk Hammett signature models to Musikmesse. The LTD KH-DC (top) has a mahogany body, a maple cap, EMG 81 and 85 pickups, and standard 3-way switching. The KH-25 has a distressed finish, EMGs, and some of the stickers hardcore Metallica fans will recognize from Hammett's own instruments."

"Fishman brought the new feature-packed Loudbox Performer to Musikmesse. It pumps 180 watts through 8"", 5"", and 1"" drivers, and features two identical channels with the ability to add two of eight effects to either. It also features anti-feedback, 24-volt power, DI outs, and more. fishman.com"

"Scuffham Amps from Estonia brought its S-Gear software suite to Musikmesse. It includes three amps--a Marshall-type, a Super Reverb-type, and a Soldano SLO-100-type--as well as an analog delay and a modulation module (the latter of which will be included within three weeks). scuffhamamps.com "

"Mad Professor brought its new Electric Blue Chorus to Musikmesse. Company founder Harri Koski says he wanted to build a chorus ""for people who don't like chorus."" To that end, it features standard rate and depth controls, as well as a blend knob for varying the wet/dry mix."

"Zander Amps (zander-amps.de) brought its Z-350 3-channel head to Musikmesse 2012. It uses two EL34s and a 5AR4, and includes a 5-button footswitch."

"Stoll Guitars' literally and figuratively massive acoustic 4-string bass has a cutaway dreadnought body made of solid walnut with a solid Sitka spruce top, and an ebony fretboard. It's amplified by a McLoud-1 undersaddle transducer. stollguitars.de"

"Sandberg brought its new California TSBS Torsten Scholz signature (left), California marloweDK signature (middle), and Electra VS4 to Musikmesse. The latter features a basswood body and woodwork that's done overseas, while setup is done at the factory in Germany. The Electra also features Sabdberg's trademark 6-bolt neck and a defeatable active circuit."

"Off Guitars Design and luthier J. Lak collaborated on the Soulsista semi-hollowbody, which features a maple-topped swamp-ash body with four tone chambers, ivoroid binding, and David Barfuss pickups. offguitardesign.com/jozsi-lak.de "

"Tonehenge Amplification brought its sexy new Monolith amps to Musikmesse. They're housed in cabinets constructed by master craftspeople, and it uses EL34 or 6L6 tubes, Mercury Magnetics transformers, and a digital reverb to crank out both Fender- and Marshall-like tones. tonehenge.de "

"Caparison Guitars has long been an underground favorite of modern metalheads, and the company made its first Musikmesse appearance ever this year. It's under new ownership, which is updating existing models with new wood and color options. Shown here are the new signature models for Christopher Amott (formerly of Arch Enemy) and Joel Stroetzel of Killswitch Engage."

"Duesenberg Guitars brought its new D-Bass Fretless to Musikmesse. It features an alder body, a maple neck, an ebony fingerboard, a brass bridge with steel saddles, and a split-coil humbucker controlled by volume, blend, and tone knobs. duesenberg.de"

"Hiwatt debuted a bunch of cool new stuff at Musikmesse, including the new Chinese-made Tube series heads and combos (left), which are powered by EL84s and are all under $1,000. The new 18-volt Tube series pedals--the Tremolo, Phaser, Distortion, and Overdrive--use a 12AX7 tube and retail for $230. At right is the new custom-order, EL34-powered OD100, which was designed for The Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl and features two entirely handwired channels with no PC board construction. "

"Musikmesse 2012 saw the debut of St. Blues' new Delta Blues Box cigar-box guitars, which retail for $275. saintblues.com"

"Finnish amp company Amplisonic brought its new cathode-biased V8 Roadster head to Musikmesse. It features innovative functions such as 30-, 15-, 10-, or 5-watt operation, the ability to use EL34 and/or 6V6 tubes, an FET boost circuit, and a series/parallel effects loop. The cab can house either two 12"" and two 10"" speakers--which you can switch between or mix--or four 12"" speakers. amplisonic.fi"

"Ashdown brought its new MiBass combos to Frankfurt this year. The MiBass 220 shown here incorporates a tiny, detachable head with a 4-band EQ, active, shape, and deep buttons, and a DI, and it drives two 8"" speakers."

"Gibson's new Les Paul Standard features ""fat tap"" push-pull volumes to tap each pickup for single-coil tones with reduced hum. Other features include an asymmetrical neck profile that's thinner on the treble side, and a new finishing process that accentuates the figured maple top."

"Amber Pickups' Wolfgang Damm has a handy method for letting his customers test out his humbuckers: He had Gibson carve out the cavities in his Les Paul Custom, and he has mahogany blocks that are fitted with each of his pickup models, making it easy to swap them in and out quickly in order to compare tones. amberpickups.com"

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